Parcel-post mailing-case.



Patented Sept. 28, 1915.

J U DU 0 Z SHEETS-SHEET W. H. HAMMOND.

PARCEL POST MAILING CASE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 18. 1914.

W. H. HAMMOND.

PARCEL POST MAILING CASE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. ts. 1914.

1,154,764. Patented Sept. 28, 1915.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 awe/whoa WHHRMMOND boxes but below and above them.

WILLIAM 'H. HAMMOND, or CLIFFORD, MASSACHUSETTS.

PARCEL-POST MAILING-CASE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 28, 1915.

Application filed November 18, 1914. Serial No. 872,838.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, WVILLIAM H. HAM- MOND, acitizen of the United States, residing at Clifford, in the county'ofBristol and State of Massachusetts, have'invented cer' tain new anduseful Improvements in Parcel-Post Mailing-Cases, of which the-followingis a specification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings.

My invention relates to mailing tubes or cases and particularly tomailing cases adapted for the transportation of relatively smallarticles such as eggs, fruit, etc. and adapted to be sent by parcelpost.

The primary object of my invention is to provide a mailing case soconstructed that it will be particularly durable and capable ofwithstanding the shocks to which it is likely to be subjected in beingtransported from one part of the country to the other.

A further object of the invention is to pro vide in connection with amailing case a plurality of nest boxes, as they may be termed, designedto be inserted within the case and held securely therein, each of thesenest boxes or sections being divided into'compartments for the receptionof eggs, fruit, or like articles.

A further object of the invention is to provide means whereby a dead airspace may be provided not only around the several nest Still a furtherobject of the invention is to improve the details of construction of thenestboxes so as to permit them to be readily manufactured and yetprevent their getting out of shape or becoming disformed or broken.

Still another object of the invention is the provision, in connectionwith each compartment of a, nest box, of a case or protector designed tohold and protect an object such as an egg, plum, peach, etc.

My invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings wherein' Figurel is a longitudinal section of the mailing case and the nest boxtherein; Fig.

- 2 is an elevation of the mailing case partly broken away; Fig. 3 is aplan view of the cover; Fig. 4- is a plan view of one of the nest boxesand Fig. 5 is a side elevation thereof; Figs. 6, 7 and 8 are detailsections on the line 66, 7-7, and 88 respectively; Fig. 9

is an elevation partly broken away of the tubular shield; Fig. 10 is aview of one of the spacing members.

Referring to these drawings, 2 designates the mailing case which iscylindrical in form and closed at its bottom by a wall 3.

Preferably the side wall of the case is formed of two thicknesses a andb of material, such as cardboard. Surrounding the inner thickness d, isa helix of wire 0, and disposed between the two layers, is anintermediate layer of fabric (Z, which is glued to the layers a and I),and holds the three layers firmly together. The top of the mailing caseis reinforced by a band 4: which is glued or otherwise attached to thewall of the case at its top edge. This band 4. not only provides for athickening of the top edge of the case to thereby provide for a firmbearing of the cover 3 thereon, but likewise assists in holding thecover fasteners in place. These cover fasteners consist each of a narrowstrip of pliable metal, this strip being designated 6, one end of whichis inserted through a slot formed in the annular reinforcing member, theinserted end being turned upward as at 7. The free end of the strip (3extends outward and when the cover is fastened in place this strip isturned over upon the cover. Preferably the extremity of the strip isbent upon itself so as to form a hook. The cover 8 may be slotted at aplu rality of points as at 9 and the rebent ends of the strips may beinserted in these slots so as to hold the cover securely in place. Thecover may be additionally secured in place by means of tabs 10 glued orotherwise attached to the'cover, the free ends of these tabs when thecover is in place being pasted, glued, or sealed to the body of themailing case. Preferably the bottom of the mailing case, when it isdesired to be used for very heavy objects, is reinforced by cross strips11, the extremities of which are carried upon and riveted, glued, orotherwise attached to the body of the mailing case adjacent the bottom.

The case as heretofore described, is adapted to be used for mailingrelatively large articles, but in order to adapt the case to be used forarticles such as eggs, fruit, and the like, I provide nest boxes, one ofwhich is illustrated in Fig. 5, these boxes being adapted to be set inthe mailing case and to support in the compartments of the box sucharticles as eggs, fruit, etc. 'Each nest box comprises a bottomdesignated 12, and a circular side wall designated 13, this side wallbeing formed of a strip of cardboard tions of the strip of cardboardforming the wall 13. are each slotted at two points as at 16, and thetongue or strip 15 is passed throughthese slots in the mannerillustrated in Fig. thus holding the overlapped ends in secureengagement. For the purpose of connecting the bottom of thenest box tothe wall 13, I provide a pluralityv of fasteners,

each consisting of a strip of metal designated 17, one end of which ispassed through a slot in the wall 13 and then bent clownward asatlS, theother end being extended down through a slot formed in the bottom 12 andthen bent outward as at 19, thus clamping the bottom of the box securelyto the side Wall thereof and holding it securely in position. Thesestrips 17 not onlyact to hold the body to the bottom 12 but also act tospace the body 13 from the periphery of the bottom 12, it beingunderstood that the bottom is larger in diameter than the diameter ofthe body 13.

The nest box is divided into a plurality of compartments 20, by means oftransversely extending strips 21 of pasteboard or like material, thesestrips being slotted transverse to their length so that they may bedisposed in cruciform relation in a manner well known in the art. Thestrips 21 forming the box are held in engagement with the wall 13 bymeans of clips 22 each formed of a metal strip, the-inner end' of whichis bent and passed through a vertical slot in the strip 21 adjacent itsend, the other end i of the strip being extended through a slot in thewall, 13. These oppo site ends are then bent down against the respectivewalls as shown clearly in Fig. 7, thus holding the strips 21 securely inplace and preventing any rotation of the strips within the nest box.These boxes are de signed to be disposed one on topof the other, thebase of one box forming the top of the box below. Itis desirable whereeggs and fruit. are carried that a dead air space be left, not onlyaround the nest box but below and above it, thus not only cushioning theeggs against jar or shock but also keeping the temperature of theinterior of the box practically uniform. To this end, I dispose in: thebottom of the mailing case 2, a false bottom which in Fig. 1 is shown asbeing formed, of a disk 23 of pasteboard or like materiahthe marginaledges of which are turned downward as at 24:. This disk may beglued,'riveted, or otherwise attached to the bottom of the box or may besimply in: serted and rest upon the bottom, thus a dead air space 25 isformedbetween the real'bottom of the box and this false bottom. One

of the nest boxes rests directly upon this false bottom 23. If it isdesired to space these boxes from each other, a spacing memf ber such asindicated in Fig. 10 may be used, this spacing member consisting of adisk 26 provided with an upstanding ring 27. \Vhen this spacing memberis used, the disk 26' rests upon the top of one of the nest boxes andevery adjacent nest box rests upon the top of the ringg27. Wherethis'spacmg member is not used however, the onef nestv box simply fitsdown and rests upon the nest member such as that shown in Fig. 10 may beinserted and rest upon the uppermost nest box, so as to space the cover,5 from the adjacent nest box and prevent any longitudinal movement ofthe nest boxes within the mailingcas'e. s For the purpose of securelyholding the fragile articles within the compartments 20 of the nest box,I provide the structure shown in F ig; 9, this consisting of acylindrical or tubular shield within which the egg is adapted to beplaced, the shield being longer than the egg, this. shield having anexterior diameterof such size that the shield will fitsecurely withinone of the compart ments 20 and hearing at a plurality of points againstthe walls of the compartments. Preferably'the shield is formed oftwothicknesses or layers 28 and 29 of paste board with an intermediatelayer of textile fabric, designated. 30, the inner tube or layer 28being encircled by a helical coil or wire 31, this being held in placein any suitable manner as by gluing the fabric 30, after the wire isinplace, to the inner tube orrlaye'r 28. The outer tube or layer is thenplaced on and theglue will holdthe three layers firmly together. Thisconstructionprovides a very strong rigid tubular shield not liable todeformation and which will entirely protect an egg or afruit carried in.it. v

The practical use of my invention will of course be understood from whathas gone before. V t I x It will be seen that the mailing case2 is verystrong, that it is braced at its lower end bythe bottom 3, and at'itsupper end by the reinforcing ring hand by theiengagement of this ringwith the cover 5 through the medium of'theclips or strips 6. When theseveral nest boxes are in place within the case, dead air space isprovided around the box and also the bottom and top of the mailing caseitself, and if desired, air spaces may be disposed between the severalnest boxes. The nest boxes are so constructed as to resist deformationand breakage and handling, and to firmly support any object which may beplaced therein.

My mailing case and the nest boxes used therewith is capable of beingused for a large variety of different purposes in connection with postalservice.

lVhile I have illustrated the details of construction which go to makethe box particularly strong and useful, I do not wish to be limited tothese details as it is obvious that many changes may be made within thescope of the appended claims.

Having described my invention, what I claim is:

1. A nest box for mailing cases, comprising a bottom and .a side Wall,and clips holding the side wall to the bottom, each of said clips at oneend being inwardly bent and extending through a slot in the side walland then being bent doWn upon the inside face of the side Wall, theother extremity of the clip passing down through the bottom and thenbeing bent outward and engaged against the under face of the bottom.

2. In a device of the character described, adjacent sheets of materialextending at right angles to each other, and pliable clips holding saidsheets in engagement, each clip having one end inserted through a slotin one of said sheets and bent down against the face of the sheet, theother end of the clip extending through the other sheet and having itsextremity bent against the face of said last named sheet.

3. A nest box for mailing cases compris ing a bottom, a side wall, andtransversely extending strips dividing the interior of the case intocompartments, clips holding the side wall to the bottom, clips holdingthe overlapping ends of the side wall together, and clips holding theends of the transverse walls into engagement with the side wall.

In testimony whereof I hereunto aflix my signature in the presence oftwo witnesses.

lVILLIAH H. HAMMOND.

lVitnesses HELEN E. KINGMAN, GEORGE l/V. S'rnTsoN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents.

Washington, D. G.

